stare

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /steə/, US /ster/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English staren, inherited from Old English starian (“to gaze fixedly”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Proto-Germanic *star- (“to be rigid”),^[2][3][4][6] cognate with Middle Dutch stāren, Old High German starēn (modern German starren) and Old Norse stara,^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“stiff”), as in Ancient Greek στερεός (stereós, “solid, stiff”).^[3][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To gaze fixedly, be wide-eyed: about 725, in Beowulf.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word did not at first imply rudeness.^[3] Middle English staren is from about 1250, in The Owl and the Nightingale.^[2] Of hair, to stand on end, it is from the 16th century.^[4] The noun meant the power of sight in the late 14th century, a sense now obsolete, and a fixed gaze from about 1700.^[3][7] To stare someone down is from 1848.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to stare.^[2]
• c. 1250 – staren.^[2]
• late 14th century – the power of sight.^[3]
• 16th century – of hair, to stand on end.^[4]
• c. 1700 – a fixed gaze.^[3][7]
• 1848 – to stare down.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To look fixedly, often wide-eyed, sometimes rudely or with hostility.
2. To stand out; to be obvious: to stare one in the face.
3. Of hair or feathers, to stand on end, as from fear or illness.

Noun

1. An intent, fixed gaze.

Word family

• starer
• staringly
• outstare
• stare down

Related words

• stark
• stern
• starve
• stereo-

Usage notes

Stare, an old name for the starling (about 725), is a separate word, from Old English stær.^[7][3][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press